Youth Social Exclusion
The term “social exclusion” originated in France and first appeared in the 60s.
Social exclusion is a complex and dynamic concept that describes a process of alienation from the socio- economic status of society. Although at first sight is presented as the most approachable condition, its clarification and definition are quite a difficult process as it involves the entire spectrum of the social sciences, from anthropology and political science to psychology and law. Notably different from the concept of poverty, which refers to the lack of income sources and the difficulty level of material prosperity, but also by unemployment, which implies a situation in which a person is deprived of paid employment in a given period of work life .
The process of social exclusion is considered as a result of various
social and ec
onomic exclusions that can be experienced by a person or a group of people and can be of different nature between them, but the outcome remains the same: supersession from society. This phenomenon is identified in Greece and indeed especially acute over the past years due to socio-economic turbulence. Social exclusion of a person or group leads to alienation from the labor market, democratic and legal institutions of a society, the services and benefits of the welfare state and any supporting frames (relatives,friends, community).
In particular, the most vulnerable groups, in the Greek reality, which are likely to be led to exclusion include: long-term unemployed, with a large proportion of the workforce that cannot work anywhere against his will, disabled , vulnerable workers, such as women, refugees and immigrants, dependent and detoxified people and prisoners and former and finally homeless and poor. Especially in modern societies where social recognition, success and happiness depends largely on consumer capabilities of people, poverty is one of the main causes of social exclusion, particularly in Greece where child poverty is continuously increasing.
“The hell of the living is not something that will be. If there is one, it is what is already here, the hell we live in every day, that we make by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the hell, and become such a part of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension: seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of hell, are not hell, then make them endure, give them space.” Italo Calvino
The Stories…
First Story
Brazil: World Cup for a few
Brazil 2014. The World Cup started in June, which is expected to add to the revenue of the country 113 billion reais, about 37 billion euros. 600,000 tourists from around the world will spend in this country about 25 billion reais, about 8 billion.
Brazil 2014. The World Cup started in June and local authorities have already taken measures to limit and outlaw the poor back in the favelas. Everyday armed forces invade the favelas and spread terror. A terror that comes from the government’s “need” to be all perfect and shiny for this huge event and the poor do not fit anywhere in this draft.
For the needs of the Cup were spent 33 billion reais for logistic infrastructure and other 7,000,000 in ads. The poor people of Brazil though remain unchanged, hungry, isolated, excluded from everything and trying to co-exist nevertheless. As stated “Some will get rich from our own World Cup and everything will be Ok. We have spent an absurd amount for the World Cup and still give more and more money. Brazil has many needs and certainly the main is not football. Indeed we should support our team on the court, but out of it we have already lost … ”
Second story
Greece: The released prisoners
“The endless dead time in prison, the complete absence of any social welfare structure and (re) integration, shape the landscape of the prison, namely this special kind of ” people warehouse. ”
Released prisoners: A special category of people with the common characteristic that passed some time in their life in a penitentiary. The society, the state, after their release, select and isolate them. These people are “stacked” in a society that is indifferent, are not offered to labor market opportunities an
d relatives and friends maintain a neutral to unfriendly attitude towards them.
In 1998 ECHS introduced a subsidized employment program for ex-prisoners, to consider how many employers were willing to hire ex-convicts. Of the 15 employers subsidized, the seven agreed to participate in research. Of those seven employers, 3 had already been dismissed by ex-prisoners who were hired and one said he would not care to continue working with him just ending the subsidy.
I wonder how things have changed in the last 15 years?
Third story
Italy: The invisible army of homeless
The homeless in Italy is almost 48,000! Specifically, in Rome, the last facts of the Italian Statistical Office (Istat, 2012), the homeless counted in 7872. This shows that there was an increase of 4,000 people in the streets of Rome in 2003, based on data from the Catholic Relief, the organization of development and social services Caritas. However, the director of Caritas, Guerino Di Tora says that “the actual number of homeless people in the city is likely to be much higher than estimated in the council because of the difficulty of realistic calculating.”
Approximately 5
5 percent of homeless people living in Rome are in the historic center of the city, while others choose areas around busy train stations. More than 65 percent of the homeless are over 36 years old and 75 percent are men, according to Caritas. The city council, which has been in operation 24 hours a day social service support to help those who live on the streets, says that about 75 percent of people, who have come to seek advice are not Italian citizens, starting with those Romanian origin (40%), followed by Poland (7%) and Ukrainian (5%).
How to tackle social exclusion
First of all, governments and partners should help combat poverty, promote social inclusion and integration, and encourage clear commitments on drawing up EU and national policies to tackle poverty and social exclusion.
a) Recognition of rights
-Recognizing the fundamental right of people who are in poverty and social exclusion to live in dignity and to participate actively in society.
-Combating stereotypes and stigma through awareness campaigns, coverage by the media and funding projects in mainstream of cultural programs.
b) Shared responsibility and participation
Emphasizing both collective and individual responsibility in combating poverty and social exclusion, as well as the importance of promoting and supporting voluntary activities.
– Debate between public and private sector to overcome the problems that hinder people’s participation: through meetings such as the annual meeting of Europeans living in poverty
– Exchange of good practices between Member States at national, regional and local level, and between administrations and stakeholders on a sense of shared responsibility
– Participation of business and social partners on activities aimed at getting people back to work.
c) Consistency
Promoting a more cohesive society by raising public awareness of the benefits for all members of a society where poverty is eradicated, fair distribution of wealth is supported and no one is marginalized.
-Organizing special events and campaigns, allowing opportunity for organizations and sectors not normally active in fighting poverty to interact with experts in social exclusion
– Visibility and consistency of Community and national programs and mechanisms for promoting social cohesion, sustainable development and solidarity between generations.
d) Commitment and concrete action
Confirm the strong political commitment of countries to make a decisive impact on the eradication of poverty and social exclusion and promoting this commitment and actions at all levels of government.
More specifically:
-increase of employment for high risk groups: young people, 55-65 people, long term unemployed, rural residents, people with disabilities.
-promotion of equitable access to health services
-increase participation at all levels of education
-elimination of homeless phenomenon
-improve the treatment of people with disabilities
-increase effectiveness of programs to boost employment with an emphasis on lifelong learning
-implementation of national system of social services with a guaranteed minimum income and ensuring healthcare.
-addressing the need for social and emergency housing
-organized national strategic framework for migrants
